The detection with antibodies, proteins, peptides, nucleic acids, aptamers, and cell receptors of certain cell types or substances in biological samples such as blood, urine, and other bodily fluids is used in the diagnosis of disease, the assessment of the efficacy of treatments, and many other purposes. Where current diagnostic assays require a patient visit a physician or travel to a laboratory, point-of-care assays may be conducted by the primary care physician in their office or by the patient in their home as well as by health care workers in remote geographical locations or in hospitals for bed-ridden patients.
Microfluidic techniques have been applied in an attempt to address some of the disadvantages of conventional laboratory techniques. For example, microfluidic techniques require much smaller quantities of reagents. However, microfluidic techniques are often able to handle biological samples of much smaller volumes, which may limit sensitivity when the quantity of the particular cells or substances to be detected are very rare or minute in amount.
What is needed is a system and method for detecting a particular substance in a biological sample that is inexpensive and not labor intensive.
What is needed is a system and method for detecting a particular substance in a biological sample that can give rapid results at the point of care.
What is needed is a system and method for detecting a particular substance in a biological sample that is very sensitive.